Decoys have long been used to visually simulate the presence of wildlife for various purposes such as game hunting, culling predator and nuisance species, and observation.
The most common decoy type is that of a molded three dimensional, i.e. “full bodied” decoy. While such a decoy can be manufactured such that it looks sufficiently realistic, it is bulky, difficult to transport and set up, and is relatively expensive. That is, since it is desirable to use a relatively large number of decoys, i.e. in the range of 50 to 100, to maximum the chances of attracting game, it may take hours to put up the decoys in the desired location and then to take them down at the end of the day. Further, such a full bodied decoy, when used on land, is unable to mimic lifelike movement. While movement of a full bodied decoy may be obtained as shown in US Patent Publication 2007/0180753, it is accomplished only by way of greater expense and a complicated structure which further extends the set up procedure and time.
Another type of decoy is a vertically disposed, two dimensional silhouette that is easier to store and carry into the field. However, such a decoy lacks the necessary realistic appearance of a live bird. Additionally, many prior art decoys lack the strength and durability needed for repeated use in the field. Such a decoy is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,270.
A third type of decoy is one which is made up of cooperating vertical and horizontal sections that are assembled to provide a three dimensional representation of a bird. Examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,783,592, 2,763,952, and 3,707,798. Such structures are generally made of a non-flexible material such as wood. Accordingly, they tend to be bulky to transport and assemble, and when erected, they tend not to move in a realistic manner.
For land based decoys, it is common to provide a support rod that is attached to the decoy and inserted into the ground. Such a rod is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,270. When the stake is so combined with the decoy structure, it complicates the transport process, and further, it may be difficult to plant the stake by handling the decoy itself, particularly in hard ground. Further, unless provision is made for the decoy to rotate on the stake, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,722, life-like movement is difficult to obtain.